GUWAHATI, Aug 26 - The Association of Engineers of the Assam State Electricity Board (AOEASEB) has resented the recent notification of the State Government appointing an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer as the Managing Director of the Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd (APDCL).
The AOEASEB said in a memorandum to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who is also holding the Power portfolio, that though it has nothing to say against the person appointed as the Managing Director of the APDCL, it has been demanding since long that the Managing Directors of the three power entities (successor entities of the erstwhile ASEB), should be selected from the engineering community. �And for the purpose, there should be a proper selection process, or, in the absence of such a procedure, the post may be upgraded to a cadre post, to be filled up by promotion,� the association said.
Reminding the Chief Minister about the role played by the association in the power reforms exercised in 2004-05, it said that it had signed a tripartite agreement for the purpose. �However, it is seen that the Government is not fully committed to implement the clauses of the said agreement in good faith,� it said.
To substantiate its allegation, the association cited Clause 5 (a) of the tripartite agreement which reads: �In the event of restructuring of ASEB into successor entities, each of these successor entities will be a professionally managed entity and always headed by qualified and experienced professionals as selected by a selection committee duly constituted by the government for the purpose�.
As per the spirit of the tri-partite agreement, the words �qualified� and �experienced professional� stood for technocrat with proven skills and experience in the power sector.
Clause-13 (Professionalization of the Boards of the Companies) of the minutes of the meeting taken by the then Chief Minister, Assam to review the power sector held on 7/12/2007 also recognized the necessity of experts in the director level. The recent posting of an IAS officer is in violation of the said clause-5 (a) of the tripartite agreement as he is not professionally qualified as a technocrat and experienced in power sector related matters.
